President Bush took the opportunity while Congress was in recess to appoint controversial nominee Thomas Dorr as undersecretary of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which will allow him to serve for a year without Senate confirmation. Recess appointments are not uncommon for contentious nominees that lack bipartisan support when the Senate and executive branch are controlled by opposing parties. Yet President Bush went even further than most presidents in appointing Dorr, because Dorr did not even have the support of fellow Republicans. Only one Republican on the 21-member Senate Agriculture Committee showed up to vote on his nomination. The Senate Agriculture Committee sent Dorr's name to the floor with no recommendation. At the time, Rep. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the committee, said, "Mr. Dorr lacks the judgment, outlook and temperament for this very important position for rural America…The record also shows that as the CEO of a corporation, Mr. Dorr, in filing false information with USDA, does not meet the standard set by President Bush when he signed a new law on corporate responsibility just last week." Harkin warned the administration not to give a recess appointment, and threatened to reopen an investigation into the finances of the Dorr family's farm operations, as reported in the DesMoines Register. Harkin also reportedly threatened to issue subpoenas to the USDA for records that it has refused to give to the Senate Agriculture Committee surrounding Dorr's repayment to the government of $17,000 for violations of government payment rules in 1994 and 1995. Dorr's family reportedly agreed to repay another $17,000 for other violations revealed during the USDA investigation following the nomination. Such controversial nominations are hardly new to the Bush administration, which is littered with former industry lobbyists -- who must now be counted on to regulate their former employers -- and others who have spent their lives questioning the very existence of the agencies they now represent. Click here for more information on the backgrounds of those now controlling the administration's top environmental, health, and safety posts.